Tears of Time
by MegaKiraraLover
Summary: Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kazuma and their group of friends and family members. However, when going on a routine mission to stop a demon, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...
1. Prologue Portals and Helpers

**Tears of Time**

**Summary:** For the last few years, Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kuwabara Kazuma, her twin brother (as she had figured out long before) Jaganshi Hiei, and their group of friends and family members. However, when going with Kazuma on a rather routine mission to stop a demon that appeared in the Human Realm uninvited, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...and now she's stuck in the past! But how does her knowledge of things to come change what is happening? How does she leave it the same? Only time will tell...

**Pairings:** Canon (including One-Sided), I.E. KuwabaraYukina and Past/Future/Slight(?)YusukeKeiko AND OTHERS. Also look out for: This will be confusing, but the following pairings are ones I've decided happened post-series, some being more canon than others(explainations in parenthesis like this); they shouldn't play an important role in the story other than explaining various comments or some reactions that might seem more OOC than they are, considering.  
**On that note, they are:** KuramaHieiKurama(this was originally planned to be canon, so I'm not screwing too much with YYH continuity), JinRuka(the barrier chick from DT, who states in the manga's epilogue to have a crush on Jin), ChuNatsume(the demon woman Chu fights on-screen, who trains him in the epilogue), RinkuKotei(the monkey woman Rinku chases after losing a fight with her, seen in the epilogue hanging out together), SuzukaJuri(the second announcer in DT, who also states in the manga's epilogue to have a crush-on Suzuka instead), TouyaKoto(the original DT announcer, who is implied to have a crush on Touya in the epilogue), and ShizuruKeiko(...what? Female authors can't be fans of yuri? Besides, I decided Yusuke had better things to do than entertain human women, and these two clearly grow on each other during DT...). Any others either won't be mentioned or are even less important than these. ^.^;; Sorry for the long list! Luckily, this is the only time you'll see it unless Yukina makes a comment. :)

**Timing:** It starts out after the epilogue in the manga/the end of the anime, then skips to the start of the series. I feel the need to point out that I'm not just going to rehash the plot in this new universe; there's going to be many changes, some larger than others at first, that will ripple outward and make this much different from the original. Which doesn't mean I'm changing the characters, the main predetermined plotpoints, and even much of the action during certain fights I'm keeping (you'll see), just that Yukina will be there (sometimes accidently, haha) screwing things up. Please bear with me!

**Other Notes:** Names will be last/family name first, then given name, just as in the original series. There will be major spoilers in this, as is to be expected, so be prepared. Names will be spelled as I prefer them to be, although most are as they are in English, with a bit of a Brittish flair (i.e. Yoko=Youko, Toya=Touya, etc.). And feel free to drop a review! I adore knowing what people think of my work, like many writers out there. :D

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. And that's all I have to say on the matter.

_Portals and Helpers_

Kuwabara Yukina stared with curious awe at her surroundings as she slowly made her way through the forest, one hand touching her chest and the other touching trees as she passed them. She both knew and didn't know where she was, and was unsure what to make of her present perdicament. Last she had checked, Kazuma had just stabbed a D-Class demon in the gut with much gusto and flair (for Yukina's benefit, which she knew, and flashed him a smile when he turned), but it managed to stay alive long enough to chant something...

Something...

"But what?" she quietly wondered aloud, frowning in thought as she leaned against the nearest tree. Her deep crimson eyes drifted closed and she struggled to remember the words, only to let out a sigh of annoyance when she couldn't.

But whatever it was the demon had chanted, it had caused her to be engulfed in a golden light that seemed both comforting and damaging all at once, like Hiei when was trying to protect her by preventing her from accompanying him on missions (which really hurt more than it helped in the long run, since Yukina just fretted more). Then, she had fallen unconscious, only to wake up in a considerably weaker state...

And less mature, as well, she had been faintly horrified to find. She liked having a visible chest and coming up to her husband's shoulders rather than his solar plexis, thankyouverymuch!

The Ice Maiden was at a loss as to what had happened, and carefully reached inside of herself to find her powers, which had matured from mid-D Class to high-C Class over the years since leaving her village. They were pulled to the surface before gently spreading outward to give Yukina an idea of her surroundings. For a while, she hit nothing but trees and small forest animals, but then-

Yukina's eyes snapped open involentarily and she gasped aloud before running as fast as she could while in a kimono, stopping only just short of the energy she had felt. Carefully, hesitantly, she glanced through the bushes-

And felt like crying when she saw her husband, looking younger than he had since they first met, talking loudly to a group of people in school uniforms. She instead collapsed in a daze on the ground, fingers gripping at the grass as though it would aid her attempts to get a grip on reality. So, then...there was a reason why she was so much smaller, so much (physically) weaker, in so unfamiliar a familiar place...

Clearly, the only logical conclusion Yukina's stunned mind could come to was that she was many years in the past, to before she met dear Kazuma or knew who her brother was or met any of her long-time friends and family members or any of them had matured beyond the equivalent of a human teenager.

"But is it real?" she whispered to herself, closing her eyes again in mental agony. "Or is it merely an illusion from the spell that demon cast? And...does it even matter...?"

"Hey, there," a familiar and slightly goofy voice said from above her, making Yukina's eyes open again as she turned up towards the voice's owner. Standing before her, looking awkward but determined as ever, was the young Kazuma, standing half in the bushes that had hidden her from view moments earlier with eyes glittering curiously and wearily. As soon as their eyes met, she could see his widen in shock.

For a long moment, the two gazed at each other in silence, neither sure what to say. Then Kazuma snapped out of it and shook his head rapidly, although the glint in his eye changed to something much more...understanding?

"Um, are you okay? I thought I fe-er, heard you crying."

Yukina was aware of what Kazuma meant (he felt her distress and had come to figure out what was wrong), but pretended to be oblivious, instead giving him a faint smile. "I...I'm fine," she softly said. "Thank you."

"Well, at least let me help you up," he said, holding out his hand expectantly. Yukina didn't hesitate to take it, the warm feeling of his large hand envoloping her small dainty one refreshing and wonderfully familiar in this strange world, even if hers was even smaller and daintier and his was less calloused from using his Spirit Sword. Carefully, Kazuma pulled her to her feet, but it took a few seconds for him to let go with a bright red blush. Yukina had to put that hand to her mouth to hide her smile.

"Thank you, Mr..."

Having to act like she didn't know her own future(?) husband hurt, but if this were real, Yukina had no desire to scare him off; luckily Kazuma was unoffended-even faintly pleased-and merely grinned widely. "Oh, sorry! The name's Kuwabara Kazuma, Number One Fighter of Kurosaki Jr. High!"

Yukina once more stiffled a smile and instead bowed politely. "It is nice to meet you, Mr. Kuwabara. My name is Yukina."

"Eheh," Kazuma awkwardly said, rubbing the side of his nose and glancing away, "that's a pretty name." Yukina merely smiled. "Oh, you don't have to call me 'Mr.' anything. Kazuma's fine."

"Well, then, it was nice to meet you, Kazuma," she said with a warm look. She glanced around and suddenly realized she had to find out exactly what time it was, where she was going to stay, and many more things before she even thought about getting re(?)-aquainted with her dear Kazuma. "Um, I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I hope to see you again."

Kazuma's dejected expression didn't go unnoticed by Yukina, although he made no move to stop her, instead giving a breif wave. "Oh. Uh, you, too, Miss Yukina!"

With a final bow, Yukina gave Kazuma another smile before she turned and half-ran, half-sprinted away, back into the forest where she had come from. A feeling of hurt entered her when she finally stopped in the clearing she awoke within, leaning against yet another tree and grimacing sadly.

"Goodbye for now, Kazuma," she softly said, both saying her farewells to the one she knew from the future and the one she had just met.

Then Yukina merely sat and thought for a long, long time.


	2. Chapter 1 Decisions and Meetings

**Tears of Time**

**Summary:** For the last few years, Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kuwabara Kazuma, her twin brother (as she had figured out long before) Jaganshi Hiei, and their group of friends and family members. However, when going with Kazuma on a rather routine mission to stop a demon that appeared in the Human Realm uninvited, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...and now she's stuck in the past! But how does her knowledge of things to come change what is happening? How does she leave it the same? Only time will tell...

**Other Notes:** Names will be last/family name first, then given name, just as in the original series. There will be major spoilers in this, as is to be expected, so be prepared. Names will be spelled as I prefer them to be, although most are as they are in English, with a bit of a Brittish flair (i.e. Yoko=Youko, Toya=Touya, etc.). And feel free to drop a review! I adore knowing what people think of my work, like many writers out there. :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own. But if anyone's curious, the reason why Yukina acts and thinks the way she does will all be explained in due time, as well as her role in the future of the Spirit Detective team and the circle of friends she has chosen. Patience may be a virtue, but I don't hold it in high regard, so I'll probably reveal everything sooner rather than later, hahaha. ^.^

_Decisions and Meetings_

As it turned out, after sleeping in the mysterious clearing for the night, Yukina found herself to be at the time just after Urameshi Yusuke had died, but before he was awakened, judging from the stories Kazuma and the others had shared. Yet she was at a loss as to what to do next. Where she would stay, what she could or would change if anything, and perhaps most importantly...

Where was her brother?

According to what Yukina remembered, Hiei and Kurama would break into Spirit World Vaults shortly after Yusuke came back to life, then they would meet. Yusuke would save Kurama's life and Hiei would try and kill him (the thought made her pale, when she compared the image of the awkward and distant yet caring brother she had learned to know to the image of a snarling demon charicature of him impaling one of his few and trusted friends with a sword), then...what was next? Something about Genkai...a tournament or something?

Either way, that was her in, Yukina decided with a determined feeling. So it was that she found herself standing awkwardly in front of the enterence to Genkai's Temple.

After staring at the building for a long few minutes, the door finally opened, revealing a narrow(er)-eyed Genkai staring suspiciously at Yukina's small, humble form.

"Who are you and why the hell are you standing on my lawn," Genkai deadpanned, lit cigarette in hand and frown in place. Yukina sweatdropped at the classic response before bowing hurriedly.

"I'm sorry for intruding," she said honestly, gaze steady on the ground as she dared not stand straight yet, "but I have a favor to ask."

"That doesn't answer either of my questions."

Yet despite the dry tone, Yukina could sense that Genkai was reasonably more relaxed, so the younger hesitantly rose from her bow and locked childishly wide eyes on the elder.

"Well, um," Yukina began, not quite sure how she would word what she wanted to say, "I'm Koorime Yukina."

"So an Ice Maiden then," Genkai noted, leaning against her doorway and eyeing Yukina with slightly more curiosity. "Don't see many of you out and about." There was a pause, then Genkai heaved a large sigh and dropped her cigarette, stomping it out. "Come on in, then. I get the feeling this is gunna be a _long_ talk."

So it was that Yukina was sitting on the mat across from Genkai, pouring her heart out, explaining all she knew and had witnessed through the long two years of adventures with Kazuma, then a brief outline of her life afterward, including the mission that had sent her back in time. She hadn't meant to say everything-and with good reason, since she probably sounded like a lunatic-but once she saw the face of the woman who had become her surrogate grandmother and the closest human woman she knew, she found herself raving and ranting. Her considerable control over her tears (developed over the years once she found time to do so) slipped three times during the discussion, and she was sure that at least leant credence, if nothing else.

When the story was over, Yukina shifted nervously from her spot kneeling in front of the tea table Genkai had out. The greying woman was silent, staring unerringly at Yukina, who kept eye contact as steadily as she could considering her discomfort. Eventually, Genkai made a noise of annoyance and sipped at her tea.

"That's quite the tale," she said gruffly.

There was another silence.

"...then...do you believe me?" Yukina incredulously asked. Genkai grunted around her tea, then when Yukina continued to stare, put it down with a faint huff.

"I'm not sure yet," Genkai admitted. She looked suitably annoyed at the admission. "The fact that you know that much about my past, most of which I've sure as hell _never_ told _anyone_, makes me want to, but you understand that it's hard to believe a story about _time travel_." Yukina wilted slightly. Genkai eyed her for a moment before slamming her hand on the table, making Yukina jump. "Then again, I've seen weirder things in my time, so I guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Until I have further proof, though, you're on probation."

Thoughts of jails popped into Yukina's head and she paled visibly. "P-probation?"

Genkai ignored the faintly panicked tone in favor of standing up, giving a half-hearted sneer at the ice demon before her. "You are clearly disoriented and I can sense little physical ability from you, let alone your obvious lack of offensive spirit abilities, if I'm reading your youki correctly. But any sign that you're decieving me, and I'll put you down faster than you can say 'shit'."

Yukina's eyes were wide (mostly because she _never_ swore, with few exceptions in her whole life) even as she nodded rapidly. Genkai smirked.

"Good. Then help me out around here, and you can use this place as your base of operations while waiting for my Tournament to come underway," she said absently, turning away from Yukina's stunned expression. "You can begin by cleaning up the tea things, then clearing out the extra bedroom. If you really do come from the future, I can assume you know where it is...?"

A bright smile crossed Yukina's face as she scrambled to her feet and bowed enthusiastically, calling a "thank you!" to Genkai's back as relief flooded her. It seemed everything was going to be alright...for now. Now she just needed to plan out the rest of her time-however much of it she had.

_-Tears of Time-_

Two days later, Yukina paused midway through sweeping in the front area of Genkai's temple and sharply looked up. She could sense not only Yusuke's unbending energy, but also a weakened Hiei, more human Kurama, and a very low-level demon-mid D at best-emerging from a portal. The four energies were within a scant mile of each other, and she could sense Botan as well despite her energy being mostly masked.

"Master Genkai, do you sense that?" she asked, turning sharply on her heel to look at the old woman playing Goblin City on her TV. The other didn't pause in her game, merely giving a slight nod as she played a fighting round, smirking whenever she scored a hit. "I'm...I'm going to go check it out."

When Genkai said nothing, Yukina took it as agreement and quickly put away the broom before slipping on her sandals, pausing with one foot literally out the door only when Genkai finally spoke.

"Think before you act," she said simply, "or else you might end up changing things you don't mean to."

Yukina glanced over her shoulder and nodded once in understanding before she was out and running at speeds impossible for a human, but slower than most demons of decent level could manage. She could name nearly ten she personally knew that would easily outpace her, but this was the fastest she could go at her current level of energy, let alone her physical limitations now that she was in an untrained body.

But that didn't matter, Yukina quickly determined as Kurama's human-demon energy walked away and Hiei's too-weak energy disappeared only to reappear quite a ways away and Yusuke's faced the D-level demon. All that mattered was that she show up and find what was happening. She knew Kurama and Hiei had been in on the heist, but she forgot there was a third member, one that had never been mentioned by name and dismissed by all involved as too weak to care about. But with Yusuke at so little power overall, let alone at that moment, she knew it was worse than the others made it out to be. And it would be nice to make another again-friend...

Yukina was barely out of breath when she made it to the energies, stopping in a tree and staring with wide eyes at the sight before her. Yusuke was there, for sure, facing a mysterious ogre demon that she recognized after a moment of shock as a Kyuukonki "spirit-eating demon." Realizing how much trouble Yusuke was in, she quickly gathered her youki and blew her cold breath onto the clearing, slowly taking the Kyuukonki over with a chill.

The large demon shivered violently and looked around with wide eyes, dropping Yusuke and taking a step away from the cold spot. After pausing a moment, Yukina once again utilized one of the Kyuukonkis' few weaknesses, due to their armor-like skin: so busy were they defending against physical attacks, they were increadibly weak to heat and cold. The "armor" material their skin was made of easily conducted the elements and would overheat or freeze the demon out with little provocation.

Thus it was that when the cold began to follow, the Kyuukonki shouted at Yusuke in a gravelley yet shaky voice, "I-I'll l-l-leave, Spirit D-D-Detec-ctive, but if-f-f you bother-r m-me again, I s-swear I'll ki-ill y-y-you!"

Then he turned tail and ran, leaving a panting and wounded Yusuke laying on the ground, staring with confusion and anger in the direction the Kyuukonki had left. Yukina took only a moment to revel in her victory before jumping down from the tree, landing in a crouch and startling Yusuke into looking up with wide eyes. She held his gaze with her own deep red one before smiling in relief.

"Thank goodness he didn't do too much to you," she said softly, straightening up and brushing off the hem of her casual pink-flower kimono. "I have the strange feeling this could and would have been much worse if I hadn't shown up when I did."

"And...you are...?" Yusuke slowly asked, struggling to stand up. Yukina quietly shushed him and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly as she pushed him into a sitting position on the ground rather than his crouching/near-standing one.

"My name is Yukina. I'm...a friend." Gently, she touched his cheek, ignoring his blush in favor of carefully healing the small cut he had there as she crouched again. She couldn't help but giggle as she pulled back and shook her head knowingly. "Why is it that whenever someone is in a fight, they always recieve a singluar cut on their cheek...?"

Yusuke was silent, just gaping as Yukina moved her attention down to his arms, humming lightly as she healed the bruising there. There was a slight trace of a bruise on the bone itself, but that was easily fixed with an extra blast of power, making her wonder if it had ever been treated in the first timeline. It could have been ignored then as a simple nagging ache from repeated fights, in which case it probably had adversely affected Yusuke's abilities for quite a while before it was caught.

"Why...are you helping me?" Yusuke asked as he watched Yukina move her powers down to his heavily bruised stomach. Yukina just hummed again, too focused to speak, but when the bruise was gone and she could see nothing else obviously wrong with him she stood again.

"I am a healer," she explained (as if he didn't know that already), "and as such I don't enjoy seeing others in pain needlessly. Besides, Kyuukonki are notoriously hard to defeat, so I thought you could use this chance to recover yourself fully before going after him again."

"I don't have time for that." Yukina blinked, startled, at her once close friend, but Yusuke ignored it in favor of getting to his feet with a fierce expression of protectiveness. "That-_thing_ is eating souls, not just any souls, but the souls of helpless _children_! I don't have time to recover, to rest, I have to do what I can to protect them!"

For a long moment, there was silence in the clearing as Yukina simply stared at Yusuke and Yusuke stared back. Then, slowly, Yukina smiled a soft and encouraging smile.

"You are a good man, Spirit Detective," she told him, ignoring the way his eyes went wide. A loud crash of thunder signaled coming rain, and she took a single step back. "Kyuukonki take 24 hours to digest a soul enough to where it cannot be saved. At least sleep and regain some energy before you try to fight him again." She paused a moment. "And, by the way...good luck."

With a final wave, Yukina whirled away and sped off, just as the cleansing rain began to fall through the heavy night sky.

_-Tears of Time-_

The next week was calmer than Yukina had thought it would be. Genkai had mentioned in passing her tournament would be starting soon, making the ice demon blink before smiling and thanking the elder for the information, which Genkai ignored (of course). At the time the full moon was at its peak, she sensed the awakening of the Forelorn Hope and the large amount of energy taken from then returned to both Kurama and Yusuke, but otherwise she knew of nothing that had happened.

Of course, part of the reason for that was the secret nighttime activity she had taken up after finding Yusuke began his first case. For Yukina was determined to find out what her brother was like before they had met, when he was still a fearsome demon and she was too innocent and he felt she had to be viewed at a distance or else broken by accident. Stupid, now, but she somewhat understood where he was coming from.

So Yukina spent her evenings and occasionally nights following her brother's demon energy, sometimes in person but usually just in spirit, watching him watch the goings-on in the human world. He was so much more uptight than in the future (_/Yes, hard to believe,/_ she amusedly thought to her mental image of Kazuma), so much more on-edge without others to watch his back.

"Oh, Hiei," she whispered aloud when she sensed the battle between he and Yusuke beginning. Carefully, she inched out of her room in Genkai's place and took off, masking her own demon energy as she made her way towards the battle. She paused only once during her journey to watch Kurama sprint by hurriedly, tilting her own head before shaking it off.

Unfortunately, Yukina arrived just in time to sense Hiei's defeat, filling her with an odd mix of relief (it was finally beginning) and horror (her brother, her only brother, in so much pain!). She dropped down in front of the strange metallic building they were in, waiting for Yusuke's spirit energy to drift away before she slipped inside using a small and conveniently-placed door.

The prone body of her brother instantly caught Yukina's attention, so tense even in the oblivion of unconsciousness, so drained due to the past battle. Her senses remained on the other energies in the room even as Yukina drifted closer, crouching next to Hiei when she was close enough and gently reaching forward to touch his face.

To her surprise, Hiei shifted slightly at the touch and opened his deep red eyes a bit only to breathe in sharply. "Yu...kina..." he whispered, staring in disbelief. Yukina could only give a sad smile as she stroked his cheek with one finger.

"Sleep, Hiei," she softly told him. "Rest and regain your strength. We'll meet soon enough."

Too tired to question the statement, Hiei gazed at her for a moment longer before his eyes drifted shut again and he visibly relaxed with a deep shudder. Yukina stayed by his side for as long as she could before the energy of Botan grew too close for comfort, at which point in time she gave her brother a single kiss on the forehead over his closed Jagan eye before leaving the scene with tears in her eyes.

It would not be until much later that she would realized she had shed a single one of those tears, which remained within reach of Hiei's body in the form of a beautifully sparkling yellow jewel.


	3. Chapter 2 Trials and ReIntroductions

**Tears of Time**

**Summary:** For the last few years, Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kuwabara Kazuma, her twin brother (as she had figured out long before) Jaganshi Hiei, and their group of friends and family members. However, when going with Kazuma on a rather routine mission to stop a demon that appeared in the Human Realm uninvited, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...and now she's stuck in the past! But how does her knowledge of things to come change what is happening? How does she leave it the same? Only time will tell...

**Other Notes:** Names will be last/family name first, then given name, just as in the original series. There will be major spoilers in this, as is to be expected, so be prepared. Names will be spelled as I prefer them to be, although most are as they are in English, with a bit of a Brittish flair (i.e. Yoko=Youko, Toya=Touya, etc.). And feel free to drop a review! I adore knowing what people think of my work, like many writers out there. :D

**Disclaimer:** Not mine-the series, that is; the story is mine. Yukina seems to be getting away from me a bit (she wasn't meant to meet Hiei for a while yet, but insisted on being there for him last chapter), but since it's her story, I'll let it slide. Just so long as she sticks to the main plotpoints I have planned that is. :)

_Trials and Re-Introductions_

A week after her semi-reunion with her brother, Yukina woke up to find Genkai already outside smoking a cigarette, staring silently at the doors to her compound.

"The tournament starts today," the elder of the two said almost absently, flicking a bit of ash. "It's time for me to buckle down."

Yukina stared for only a moment before nodding in agreement. "When will they arrive?" she asked, setting about making breakfast. Genkai took a long drag before responding.

"Noon."

"And you know that Rando is coming, as well, for the chance to take your power."

Giving the Ice Maiden a sidelong glance, Genkai took one final breath of her cig before stomping it out. "Of course he is, but that D-Class idiot won't gain my technique without going through my crap like the rest of them."

"And if he wins?" asked Yukina, eyes trained on the pan she was cooking their morning rice in. Genkai didn't pause as she walked into the room.

"Then he is the one who shall learn my techniques."

Aware of the old psychic's views of the world, Yukina simply nodded her agreement despite the deep pit of unease in her stomach, continuing her cooking. Genkai eyed her for a long moment while they sat in silence.

"That doesn't affect you?" she asked, clearly curious. Yukina gave her a small, wry smile, finishing off the rice and bringing the bowls to the table. She sat and began to pick at her food before she answered.

"I know you would only teach your techniques to one who deserves it, whether or not he is the winner, so long as he had the power and determination to use it," said Yukina softly. "And I know you aren't as oblivious to what would happen if Rando were to gain your power as you act. You would sooner destroy him than teach someone undeserving your power. So I have no reason to worry, Master Genkai." A bright smile touched the young demon's face. "I trust you."

The rest of the meal was spent in silence, contemplative and more at-ease than it had been for Yukina's entire stay. She was suddenly more sure than ever that Genkai believed her-and only hoped that it was true.

_-Tears of Time-_

Yukina had decided earlier in the day that she would make her way among the crowd when it arrived, pinpointing people and seeing if she recognized any. She could have sworn she saw one of the members of Ichigaki's Team from the Dark Tournament (the one with the tendency to not wear a shirt), and even thought she spotted a low-level demon or two other than Rando, but otherwise identified nothing/no one interesting until nearly twenty minutes before the trials were to begin.

"Hey, little girl," a man's deep voice purred from above Yukina. Glancing up, deep red eyes studied the large, hulking form of a smirking human male dressed as a typical biker, leather creaking as he shifted his weight. "This ain't the place for pretty faces."

"Oh, hello," Yukina said in an innocent voice despite the suspicion in her mind. She had grown a bit more world-weary over the years, but had the "annoying" (according to Hiei) tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt, be they humans or demons. "Um, thank you for the compliment?"

The man gave a low chuckle, amused by her naivette. "You're welcome, pretty girl, but you still shouldn't be here. The wrong types get attracted to power like this."

Yukina smiled faintly. "Thank you for your concern, sir, but I'll be fine."

If the man were going to do anything untward, he apparently thought better of it, merely shrugging and turning away. Yukina went back to her search, turning-

-only to come face-to-face with the man she would and had once married.

"Oh, Kazuma!" she greeted before she could stop herself, smile warming considerably. Kazuma visibly jumped before glancing at her, recognition passing over his face and giving him a stupid grin.

"Hey, Yukina!" he cried in his slightly goofy voice, obviously having to restain himself from taking her hands. "Wow, I didn't know you were coming here! Are you going to see Master Genkai, too?"

Yukina had to stiffle a giggle, eyes twinkling mischieviously. "Something like that. Why are you here, Kazuma? For the tournament?"

Visibly taken aback, Kazuma blinked rapidly. "...tournament?"

Luckily Yukina was aware of her future/past (time travel was so confusing...) husband's tendency to be unobservent, so she merely smiled sweetly at him before explaining how Genkai was trying to find a successor for her spiritual powers. By the end Kazuma was looking rather distressed.

"So, then, she won't be able to help me?" he asked with such a sad expression that Yukina felt her heart go out to him.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll still help you, Kazuma," she soothed, putting a hand on his bicep and aware of how his whole face heated up from the innocent touch. "But probably not until after the trials are done. Maybe you could stay anyway?"

Kazuma hesitated, but upon seeing the hopeful look on Yukina's face, he semi-reluctantly agreed. Yukina smiled brightly at his decision.

"That's wonderful! I can't wait to see how you do!"

Before Kazuma could respond, he seemed to spot something over her head (she really hated being so short...) and went wide(r)-eyed. "Urameshi?" he cried out. Yukina blinked in surprise and turned just in time to see Yusuke look over in their direction, seeming just as surprised to see them as Kazuma was to see him.

"Oh," Yukina simply said as Yusuke crept over, looking at her with lingering recognition. She smiled softly at him even as she spoke to the redhead beside her. "Kazuma, is this a friend of yours?"

There was a snort, although whether it came from Yusuke or Kazuma wasn't immediately clear. "Not quite," Kazuma said with a roll of his eyes. He seemed to remember his manners shortly after and scrambled. "Oh, uh, Yukina, this is Urameshi Yusuke. Urameshi, this is Yukina; I met her a week ago in passing."

"We've met," Yusuke simply said, staring at Yukina as she stared innocently back. Kazuma blinked, but Yusuke turned his gaze away from the Ice Maiden and began speaking to him instead before any questions could be asked. "Kuwabara, what the hell are you doing here?"

Kazuma went red-faced, this time in annoyance rather than embaressment. "I should be asking you that!"

Yukina watched with great amusement and a sense of relief as the banter proceeded, the two trying to argue why the reason they were there was better without actually saying it before Kazuma gave in and told Yusuke what he had told Yukina.

"I was just going to go home when I heard this was some sorta weird-o tournament," the tallest of the group went on, "but then Yukina asked me to stay, and I couldn't say no."

Yusuke gave Yukina a sharp look, which earned him an innocent blink. "I can sense the energy flowing off of Kazuma," she explained in a half-truth. "I think it would be fun to see how far he can get." She paused here, Kazuma giving her a shocked look (she nearly laughed at how slow he was sometimes; obviously, if she was here, she was spiritually aware-to say the least) and Yusuke looking just as suspicious as earlier. "Besides, Kazuma, if you win, you would learn how to channel your energy into interesting techniques; if you lose, Master Genkai will still help you to control your powers. Either way, you get something out of it!"

Kazuma grinned at her reaction and was obviously preparing to gush about how wonderful she was, but to Yukina's slight relief the gong announcing Genkai's enterence rang. The crowd became hushed, and the trio found themselves watching the sliding doors with interest as they slowly opened, Yukina nearly laughing when Genkai arrived and Yusuke shouted out about how she was an old hag before Kazuma hit him in the arm hard enough to earn a scowl.

"Well, then, I suppose we should get things started," Genkai's croaking yet somehow still intimidating voice spread out across the crowd. Yukina already had her poker face in place when she heard two people next to her whispering about how challenging Genkai's tests were. Oh, they had no idea... "The first of your screening tests will be...the drawing of lots!"

Nearly everyone in the crowd face-faulted, and Yukina nearly cracked a rib trying not to giggle at the reaction. Genkai had informed her beforehand about the tests and this one in particular, stating not only would it root out the weak of energy, but also those who weren't prepared to listen to her every order-no matter how rediculous it sounded.

"Graaah," Yusuke groaned, hand clenched in a fist as he used the other to push himself off the ground, "how is that a test!"

"You should trust Master Genkai," Yukina suggested with a kind smile even as her eyes continued to laugh for her. Gradually, after Genkai gave some gentle(?) verbal prodding, people began to stand up and either move towards the pot holding the lots or the steps leading from the house. Yukina made her way with Kazuma and Yusuke, watching them draw theirs, but didn't draw her own.

"Hey, Yukina," said Kazuma curiously, frowning at the teal-haired demon, "why didn't you take one? I thought you were here to see Master Genkai, and since you knew about the tournament..."

Ignoring Yusuke's calculating look, Yukina shook her head with a slight smile. "No, I'm not here to compete, just to observe. After all, I'm not much of a fighter."

Finally letting out a single giggle, Yukina was saved from further questions when Genkai spoke up with a sarcastic, "You all did that rather well. I'm impressed." Yusuke's eye visibly twitched. "You should open your lots now. If it's red, then congradulations-you've passed the first of today's screenings."

A curious Yukina watched the varying reactions of those who either passed or did not (stifling a smile with her hand when Yusuke looked less than happy to have a red one while Kazuma just seemed confused and a little angered at his similar result), They both noticed the other had a red slip at the same time and shouted half-accusations of shock at each other, Genkai cutting in before they could do anything else.

"Those who passed, please follow me," Genkai went on, already turning away from the group, "but those who didn't had better get lost before I _make_ you get lost."

Yukina enthusiastically pulled Kazuma forward, earning herself another blush, and smiled at Yusuke to encourage him as well, but before they made it to the front two large men even bigger than the biker Yukina had seen earlier appeared behind Genkai. Their snarling threats made Genkai turn, although she looked less than impressed.

"The only difference with larger fighters is that they're louder when they whine." Yukina had to admit the truth in that to herself as she slowly began to pull Kazuma and Yusuke out of the line of fire that was enevitably going to happen. "Besides, if you were really powerful enough to qualify, why didn't your paper turn red? Can't you dumbasses understand that I'm trying to save you from embaressment!"

With a snarl, the one with the headband lunged forward with his companion closely following while Genkai just watched them with a sneer. She shifted her stance just slightly, closed her eyes, then opened them again with a shout of exertion.

The men were frozen in midair by the power of Genkai's technique before being thrown back with a flash of blinding blue spirit energy, crashing past where Yukina, Kazuma, and Yusuke had been standing moments before and eventually hitting the suddenly closed doors to the path down the mountain. Both were unconscious before they hit the ground.

The gasps of shock and awe made Yukina smile and pass a glance with Genkai, who smirked faintly.

"Clearly, my powers are getting a bit rusty," Genkai casually said, shifting her stance again so she was once more standing with her back half-turned towards the crowd. "A few years ago, those oafs would have gone through those doors if I blinked at them wrong. Heh." She turned away completely with a single shake of her head, already making her way along the walkway along her main temple. "I must be older than I thought...

"Alright, red papers," she said in a louder voice that carried over the crowd, "follow me."

As the crowd began to move, Yukina noticed the impressed smirk on Yusuke's face and smiled a bit herself. It seemed everything was going fine. There was just the problem of Rando to consider...

A crackling sound drew Yukina's attention, and she was startled to find Yusuke's demon-tracking-watch (she had never bothered to learn the official name) had short-circuted, probably due to her being so close to it. She had nearly forgotten the original didn't react well around demons with powers above the D class. Well she still had her own tracking abilities, at least. Rando had not counted on an Ice Maiden in the crowd that wanted him gone.

Now it was just a question of finding him.

_-Tears of Time-_

The gaming section was perhaps the most amusing for Yukina. After showing off her arm at the punching game (she only got a 97, but that was still better than most of those who were there), earning a slack-jawed Yusuke and Kazuma for her efforts when she obviously hit it hard enough to knock a real person out, she found herself to have a maximum awareness just a bit below Kazuma on Rock-Paper-Sizzors (which was something she had always been curious about). But she most relished the expressions of shock on the faces of everyone when she not only sang well on the karaoke machine, but also beat every other contestant's score on her adaptability. Genkai eyed her with much curiosity after that display but said nothing.

Soon, the 20 highest-scoring contestants (and Yukina and Genkai) were standing in front of the Dark Forest, Yukina next to Kazuma as she softly played with the forest's energy in a teasing way.

Ignoring Yukina's energy's actions, Genkai explained how deadly and old the forest was before announcing the contest was to make it to the other side in two hours, which made two of the passing contestants run in horror. Genkai laughed sadistically at their reactions and taunted them lightly with the reminder of how dangerous it was.

Both Kazuma and Yusuke took the challenges from Genkai and the other fighters in stride, swearing to make it in time.

"Good luck staying alive," Genkai said sharply, "and I'll meet you all on the other side. You had best hope you don't die."

"Yukina, maybe you should stay behind for this one," Kazuma said worriedly. Glancing up, Yukina smiled at his overprotectiveness and shook her head.

"Don't worry about me, Kazuma," she softly told him. "I'll be fine."

Kazuma was clearly unconvinced. "Well, maybe...but...you should probably stick close to me, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

Half-touched and maybe a quarter annoyed with the protectiveness Kazuma was displaying, Yukina prepared to defend her own abilities only to have Yusuke cut her off.

"Geez, Kuwabara, give the girl some space," he said with arms folded behind his head, eyeing his friend with annoyance and something Yukina couldn't quite identify. "If she wants to go get her head bit off, let her, but somehow I doubt that would happen."

"Urameshi," Kazuma began to snap only for Yukina to smile and softly interrupt with, "Thank you, Yusuke. I'm glad you believe in me."

Yusuke grumbled something, but said nothing else.

"If you're done with the sobfest," Genkai said without venom, "we're going to get started. Ready?"

Yusuke got into a running position.

"Set?"

Kazuma gave Yukina one last worried glance before doing the same.

"Go!"

The group sped off, all except Yukina, who stayed behind with Genkai. The two waited until the coast was clear before Genkai eyed Yukina with expertly concealed interest/worry.

"Everything going according to plan?" the old woman wryly asked. Yukina merely smiled and dipped her head, earning a nod in return. "Well, then, I'll leave you to go through. I don't highly suggest you head through the center, however; Boldock is not a fan of ice demons and would likely spend more energy trying to kill you than any other being in here."

"Thank you for the warning, Master Genkai," said Yukina respectfully. Genkai eyed her for one more moment before speeding off herself at what she considered a jog, speed equivilant to Yukina's at this time to her surprise. She watched the forest for a moment before giving a wry smile.

"Good luck," she said to no one and everyone. Then she took off through the path she normally took, passing by Boldock's territory and many of the other dangers Genkai had warned of. It would be interesting to see if anyone could beat her there...

_-Tears of Time-_

No one other than Genkai herself could, as it turned out. After fourty minutes Yukina and Genkai were both at the old tree, Yukina sitting in front of it lotus-style and meditating while Genkai leaned against it reading a worn-looking book. Time stretched as the two women sat in companionable silence.

"I should probably check on their progress," Genkai said aloud in a weary voice a little over an hour after the competition began. Yukina said nothing, but did fall out of her meditation and open her eyes upon feeling her dear Kazuma coming close.

Sure enough, shortly after Genkai came out of her meditation and half an hour before the time was up, a heavily panting Kazuma ran up over the hill only to stop in front of Genkai, chest heaving. He glanced around as he did so.

"Hello."

Kazuma glanced up at the greeting and a grin began to spread across his face. "Am I the first one here?" he asked in awe. "Really!"

Genkai nodded once, clearly amused. "Indeed you are," she said aloud.

"Wow!" Kazuma let out a loud laugh and pumped a fist in the air, excited. "Oh yeah, that's right, I'm cool..."

Before he could continue reveling in his victory, two more competitors made it over the hill, specifically the man with the facial scars and the apparent monk.

Surprisingly (or maybe not), it was the monk who noticed Yukina sitting in front of the tree watching them first. He made a slight face. "I thought for sure we would be the first here," he said with a sneer, "but it seems even the little girl has beaten us."

"Little girl?" echoed Kazuma, obviously unsure what the man was talking about. He glanced around in confusion and finally his gaze landed on Yukina, at which point a wide grin once more split his face. "Oh, Yukina! You made it! Thank goodness," he gave a nervous laugh, "I was slightly worried..."

"Thank you for your concern, Kazuma," Yukina said with the softest smile in her arsonal. "I'm glad you made it here in one piece. Are you hurt at all?"

Kazuma paused only a moment before shaking his head. "Oh, no, not at all! Fine and dandy, thanks!" He laughed almost nervously as he patted his arms to show off how well he was doing, flinching slightly when he hit his elbow. "Fine and dandy, yessir...ah, yes'ma'am..."

"Oh." Getting to her feet, Yukina turned amused red eyes onto the man she would/did marry. "Well, I've been training to be a healer, and Master Genkai gave me permission to heal anyone if they made it here. Do either of you two have any wounds?"

"As if anything in that forest could have injured us," snorted the scarred man. The monk nodded in agreement even though Yukina could sense the wound on his leg, relatively minor, but it was completely possible it would split into something bigger if he did strenuous activity. Oh well. Yukina wasn't going to give medical care to one who didn't want it when the wound was non-lifethreatening.

"You're a healer?" asked Kazuma with slight awe. Yukina nodded and he grinned back, pulling up the sleeve of the arm he had patted earlier. "Oh, uh, well...then do you mind healing this up for me? Some stupid cat thing scratched me out there, although it got scared off when I flexed my muscles at it, hahaha..."

Yukina giggled back and nodded, gesturing him closer and gently touching the semi-deep wound. It was not as serious as the monk's leg wound, but it still could cause problems in the future, so after using her ice to discretely destroy any infections she carefully healed it over. Kazuma watched her do this with wide, interested eyes.

"Whoa."

"You're a healer, not a fighter, then," another newcomer noted as he walked up. Yukina turned-only to frown when she noticed his energy. The small child-like man had the energy of a demon. So, then this must be Rando.

"Yes," said Yukina simply, "although that doesn't mean I can't defend myself."

Rando tilted his head slightly, partly amused and partly annoyed. "Then why are you trying to learn her techniques?"

Yukina pretended not to hear the question.

Half an hour later, time was up, and seven people had arrived-but Yusuke was noticably not among them.

"All right, time's up," Genkai said, ignoring Yukina's look of wide-eyed shock. Had she messed something up already? Had something been tampered with that shouldn't have, like perhaps Yusuke had originally used that watch to get around the forest's demons, or perhaps he travelled with Kazuma and hadn't this time, or perhaps-

Yukina nearly face-faulted when she saw Yusuke run up and explain he had been in a fight with Boldock. _/Or perhaps,/_ she thought with exhasperation, _/he's just an idiot who can't sense spirit energy at all./_ Although the fact that he complimented Hiei's speed helped make up for his stupidity a little. Just a little.

Genkai seemed equally surprised that the teen had made it through a fight with Boldock almost completely unscathed. After watching him for a moment with narrowed eyes, she nodded thoughtfully, faint smirk in place.

"I believe I will make an exception and allow you to continue on," she said, earning herself two wide grins from the teenage boys before her and a thankful look from Yukina. At least it seemed one thing was going well...

Not that she noticed Rando's eyes trained steadily on her, trying to figure out who and what she was...


	4. Chapter 3 Fights and Interventions

**Tears of Time**

**Summary:** For the last few years, Kuwabara Yukina has lived a content life alongside her dear husband Kuwabara Kazuma, her twin brother (as she had figured out long before) Jaganshi Hiei, and their group of friends and family members. However, when going with Kazuma on a rather routine mission to stop a demon that appeared in the Human Realm uninvited, Yukina falls-not just through space, but also through time...and now she's stuck in the past! But how does her knowledge of things to come change what is happening? How does she leave it the same? Only time will tell...

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned YYH...but I don't. T.T It seems I'm speeding along with this, however; hopefully I can keep it up? And the plotlines will be different soon, don't worry; we just have to wait for Rando to pop up and screw things over for our little heroine to turn into the demon we know she is. :D

_Fights and Interventions_

Yukina found herself deeply amused by the reactions of her two once(current?)-friends when they realized they would be fighting the next round in the dark, although Kazuma's mention of "something from the forest or something" following them confirmed her suspicions. It seemed Rando was indeed the small man as she had thought, not that there was much she could do about it just yet. She was content to merely watch the fights for the moment.

During the introductions, however, she found herself at a loss. It was only when the others all fell silent that she blushed and decided to introduce herself.

"U-um, hello," she greeted softly. "My name is Yukina. I am a healer, working to better my skills, and I've been living with Master Genkai for some time now..."

"What, you live here!" shouted Kazuma, stunned. Yukina blushed deeper and ducked her head, unsure of what to say to that.

"She does," Genkai sharply cut in, making Yukina's head snap up to stare at the old woman, "not that it's any of your business. She's here to make sure whichever one of you punks I end up teaching doesn't fall apart before we get to the good parts."

The man known as Chin-Po frowned, as did Rando (who apparently went by Shorin), but the others seemed either to be masking their emotions or were completely unaffected.

"But that's beside the point." A moment later, eight arrows suddenly flew from nowhere and buried themselves in the ground in front of the remaining competitors. "Pick whichever arrow you think is pretty. That is how we'll chose our order."

The brutality of the first match obviously hit Kazuma hard, but for Yukina it was merely a bit sad to see humans killing other humans. Yet she had seen much worse through her time, so after a moment of silence on the man's behalf she moved on.

Botan's spirit energy appeared outside of the area shortly after, but while Kazuma chased after Yusuke when he left, Yukina remained behind. It was probably for the best, she decided when she heard Kazuma shout in surprise upon learning of Botan and noticed Shorin/Rando narrow his eyes just slightly, that she had or else Genkai likely would have stomped out there immediately.

As it was, Genkai waited until Yusuke explained Rando was there before walking outside and flicking a cigarette onto Kazuma's shoulder as he asked Botan a question, Yukina hovering behind her and giggling when he furiously blew at the spot it landed once he realized it was there.

"The next match is about to begin; If you are happy with disqualification, then stay where you are," Genkai dryly said. In an instant, Kazuma and Yusuke were running back inside, Genkai following. Botan noticeably paused when she spotted Yukina and frowned slightly.

"...you...you're a demon, aren't you?" the blue-haired Reaper asked lowly when the door was mostly closed. Yukina was silent for a few moments.

"I am what you see," she responded, "a young woman working alongside Genkai for the sake of what I believe is right. But yes, I suppose as a member of the Koorime, I would be called a demon." She paused, then smiled at Botan's wide-eyed look. "My name is Yukina. It's nice to meet you, Miss."

With a brief bow, and without waiting for Botan's introduction, she slipped inside to watch the next fight, Botan hesitating only a moment before walking in behind her.

As it was, Yukina probably could have stood to wait outside. It was Shorin/Rando versus Chin-Po, and she had no doubt as to who would win-and sure enough Shorin/Rando was the only one to emerge from the darkness, holding an injury Yukina's trained eye noticed was self-inflicted.

Musashi, the samurai, was to go against Kazuma next. Yukina smiled encouragingly at the redhead. "Good luck, Kazuma," she said. Kazuma visibly brightened and grinned, putting a fist to his chest.

"Thanks, Yukina, but a real fighter doesn't need luck!" he boasted.

"Then obviously you need all the luck you can get," Yusuke deadpanned. Kazuma glared at him.

"Hey, I'm a good fighter!"

Yusuke ignored that. "Look, just try not to get yourself killed."

"Of course not," scoffed Kazuma before a grin spread across his face and he pointed at Yusuke. "After all, I need to kick your ass before I die!"

With a final wave, Kazuma and the samurai disappeared into the darkness. Botan instantly began to worry.

"Don't you think he's a little...mismatched?" she asked the room at large.

"Don't worry," Yukina said reassuringly, smiling at the Grim Reaper when she visibly jumped in surprise, "I'm sure Kazuma will do fine. He has quite a lot of power, if he can manage to use it."

"If nothing else, he's got a lot of thickheaded determination," Yusuke added with a roll of his eyes. "And he's used to getting his head punched into the ground, so no worries about his endurance, either."

"Yusuke!" Botan said in a faintly horrified tone, glancing at Yukina (she obviously sensed that despite their "short" time knowing each other, Yukina had come to care for Kazuma at the least as a friend).

However, the Ice Maiden was too busy sensing spirit energy to notice, watching in her mind as the battle began. The fighting was one-sided thanks to Kazuma's sensitivity not being quite high enough to sense his opponent when said opponent made to hide his power, and eventually it became worse when the samurai drew a weapon that conducted his spirit energy. Yukina started to panic when the weapon began to repeatedly strike her love.

"Kazuma!" she shouted, hoping her voice carried. She sensed his power sputter, then sharply spike in time with another hit, watching in her mind as Kazuma barely recovered from the blow.

"Don't worry, Yukina," he said more to himself than to her, since he likely thought she couldn't hear him (even though she could thanks to her demon heritage). "I'm not going to let this punk beat me."

"You broke," the samurai said in a sharp voice, "my sword." There was a pause, and when he spoke next, he sounded slightly less uptight. "So you're not down yet? Then I shall have to make you stay down!"

Yukina was silent now, worry seeping away with Kazuma's assurances; she knew he would do anything and everything to keep his promise, especially if he considered her important. So when she sensed the samurai moving in, she kept her gaze steady, waiting for him to come out victorious.

A smile stretched across her face in relief when she saw Kazuma summon his Spirit Sword for the first time.

_/I wish I had a camera,/_ thought Yukina with a mental giggle, looking at the expression on his face. She listened contently to Genkai explaining his powers to Yusuke, who seemed to have been hit one too many times when she wasn't looking, while Yukina just continued to watch as Kazuma defeated his enemy and stared at his sword.

She then proceeded to sweatdrop when he said to the area at large, "How do I turn this off!"

"Oh, Kazuma," Yukina sighed before rushing to his side and softly coaching him through the process of retracting his spirit energy. Kazuma was a quick study (he always had been when he wanted to), and within a mere two minutes the two were walking back towards the main group, Yukina giggling as Kazuma heroically retold the tale of his fight (with a few extra bits of information, of course).

"If we're done," Genkai said, giving Yukina a pointed look that made her blush faintly, "winner: Kuwabara. Now if you will refrain from wasting my time," Yusuke shut his mouth against whatever comment he was going to make, "the next match is Kibano versus Dimwit."

"I think that's you," said Kazuma smugly to his rival/friend, holding his stomach lightly. Yukina ached to heal it, but Genkai had given her strict instructions not to heal them between the last few rounds, saying endurance was important for the training-which Yukina knew well enough.

Instead of taking offense like he would in the future, Yusuke just snorted in amusement. "Funny, I always thought my name was Yusuke," he said sarcastically before heading off with the man with the scars on his face. Yukina frowned, but trusted Yusuke in this fight (as much as it pained her to say it, Yusuke had a much higher winning streak than Kazuma, who won just as many battles as he lost before and during the Dark Tournament).

_/Except when he pokes at Genkai's patience,/_ she added mentally when the Detective once more made fun of his future(past?) master's age. Luckily he went on to the fight soon enough.

There was a brief touch of panic when the demon noticed the muscle-enhancing technique the scarred man used, then again when Yusuke fell to the ground, but she managed to refrain from reacting as she had with Kuwabara. Yukina wasn't quite sure what she should have said when Genkai's smoking habit was what saved Yusuke in the end, thanks to the bit of light it produced.

"It isn't cheating to use your own energy," she put in when Kazuma expressed the thought that his sword and Yusuke's gun was technically cheating. "It's not as if you brought a real gun into the fight. And those daggers didn't count as cheating, and killing your opponent is almost encouraged, so why should a sword and a blast of reiki be _dis_couraged?"

"I guess..." muttered Kazuma, looking slightly unnerved when Yukina carelessly spoke of death and weaponry. She pretended not to notice as the fight was moved outside, making their way through the forest behind the outer temple this time. She also pretended not to notice Yusuke and Botan discussing Rando so nonchalantly, and deciding it was Kazemaru the ninja (hint: it wasn't).

"Here we are," Genkai said when they reached their new battlegrounds, with dead trees and marshland all around. The energy here was even darker than Yukina remembered from her time, stifling even. "This is the sight of an ancient battle; the army was overcome by madness. Thousands of soldiers attacked their own men...spirits wander this land restlessly, for eternity."

It was at this point Kazuma lost his composure, and Yukina's heart broke. He gripped his head and stumbled back, making a low moaning sound, and said with agony in his voice, "I'm seeing things...things I never wanted to see! It's horrible here!"

"Shhh, Kazuma," Yukina quietly soothed, reaching over and laying a hand on his shoulder. She saw the way his tense shoulders loosened as their energies combined, hers gently soothing his and pushing back the foreign kind as well. "It's all right. These spirits are in pain, but they will not harm the living as long as the living do not harm them. And perhaps fighting the battles they could not will put their souls at ease, or at least some of them."

Kazuma quieted, and after giving Yukina a cursory glance, Genkai continued:

"Energy overflows here as a result," she said. "It is perhaps the best place to use spirit energy, and thus the best place to have our final rounds."

"Thank you, Yukina," Kazuma awkwardly said when Yusuke and the ninja had gotten into position. Yukina herself smiled reassuringly.

"You're welcome," she told him. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Kazuma blushed, but otherwise didn't react as the next battle began.

More than once, Yukina had to refrain from making noises of shock when Yusuke was being pounded into the ground, although she also had to refrain from giggling when the ninja got a cut on his cheek and Yusuke looked weirdly at it before glancing at her. But the battle quickly resumed after that moment with _homing_ **exploding** shuriken of all things and Yukina was once more on her toes.

Then Yusuke lead them straight towards herself and Kazuma, and she let out a low shriek, covering her eyes and preparing her powers in case they did hit. She felt a large form in front of her protectively-the scent revealed it to be Kazuma-

"You're gunna have to take this from here, Kuwabara," Yusuke said from just over her protector's shoulders. Slowly, Yukina opened her eyes only to blink at Kazuma's back, then when she ducked around him she saw Yusuke giving a stupid grin and running in a different direction. The direction of the ninja.

"Oh, no," Yukina moaned, only to freeze when Yusuke simply disappeared.

Then she sweatdropped when she realized where he was, even as the others stared in confusion and slight panic.

"Dumb luck wins again..."

Next to her, Genkai snorted in amusement as Botan and Kazuma rushed forward, stopping just in front of the mud-lake. Rando/Shorin just stared with narrowed eyes at the spot where Kazuma was fishing out his friend.

"Let's go congratulate the dimwit for making it to the finals," the only human of the trio said dryly. After doing that, something Botan said as the group observed the fallen ninja hit Yukina hard.

Shorin/Rando was fighting next.

Against Kazuma.

She had a bad feeling something horrible was going to happen.

Yet she kept her mouth shut, only wishing him luck once more and thanking him, which earned her one of Kazuma's brightest grins and a thumbs-up. Yusuke tried to talk him out of it, but Kazuma was having none of that; he proclaimed he was going to fight no matter what Shorin was, and refused to back down.

"This fight's for you, Yukina," he gushed afterward, apparently back in the constantly love-struck mode Yukina was used to. She just smiled at him, silently preying to the gods (and Koenma and a couple of high-ranking demons, just to make sure) that he would be alright.

And he was, at the start. He managed to land some solid punches on Shorin/Rando, who seemed unused to physical combat, or at least physical combat in his current form. Yukina was slightly worried when Shorin/Rando brought out fireballs, but breathed a sigh of relief when Kazuma just batted at them with his Spirit Sword and made a stupid baseball joke.

But when Shorin/Rando began chanting, Yukina's already cold body became even colder.

"Kazuma, get out of there!" she shouted, taking a step forward only for Genkai to gently grab her elbow. Yukina turned just in time to see the elder woman shake her head, once, then pull her back into place.

Kazuma seemed unnerved by her shout, however, and a moment later charged. But it was too late; Shorin/Rando finished the chant just before he would be hit, and Kazuma seemed to simply disappear. But Yukina knew he hadn't disappeared. But he wasn't visible where her senses said he would be. But he _had_ to be there. But how? But, but, but...

Then Shorin/Rando stomped the ground a few times, and Yukina let loose a moan of emotional pain. Kazuma was picked up by Shorin/Rando, then, revealing him to be barely the size of her whole hand; he struggled in Shorin's grip as the demon cooed at him.

"You're not an insect," Shorin/Rando said in a sickly sweet voice, apparently answering a question Kazuma had asked while Yukina was preoccupied. "You're still human...just a tiny and fragile one." Then Shorin/Rando began to squeeze. "Sooo...does this hurt?"

"Stop!" Yukina shouted before she could stop herself, shaking her head rapidly as she teared up. "Kazuma! Please, forfeit! He'll...he'll kill you!"

"Listen to her, Kuwabara!" Yusuke agreed.

Shorin/Rando glanced over with a twisted smile. "Oh, but that can't be allowed to happen," he said in that sweet-as-death voice. "I have to make use of this power a little more."

"Stop it!" Yukina shouted again, feeling helplessness overcome her as Shorin/Rando began to squeeze. She was ignored, and something popped, making Kazuma scream. Yukina felt a single tear begin to slip from her eye and she hysterically shouted again: "STOOOOOOP!"

The tear fell, and as it fell, it morphed.

Botan was the first to notice the jewel that clinked to the ground.

"Yukina," she said quietly, starting to reach over. She stopped short when ice began to flick out from Yukina's form, slithering onto her hand with sharp pain. A hiss escaped the Grim Reaper as she jerked back and cradled her hand, gaining Yusuke's attention.

"What the-" he began, eyes wide. Yukina ignored them all, too busy watching Shorin/Rando continue to torture _her_ Kazuma, feeling her power respond to her pain and desire to save him, feeling the air around her cool and the grass freeze and the wind blow around her...

"Let him go!" Yukina screamed loud enough for her voice to crack, lunging forward to protect _her_ Kazuma. Her demon side ensured she missed Kazuma as she tackled Shorin/Rando to the ground just as he was preparing to snap Kazuma's arm, and a swift grab allowed her to gently catch him before he hit the ground even as she hissed angrily.

"Don't you dare," she said in a deadly voice, the cold beginning to creep along Shorin/Rando's chest where she knelt on it, "_dare_ touch him."

The realization that she was holding Kazuma was what snapped Yukina out of her blind demonic rage, at which point in time she blinked rapidly, then let out a little cry of surprise. Jumping off of the other demon and stumbling back, Yukina stared, wide-eyed, at the Kazuma staring back in her hand, looking stunned. She...oh, gods, she had forgotten...Kazuma didn't know she was a demon; he didn't know what she was; no one else knew, except Genkai, who didn't count...

"A Koorime," breathed Shorin/Rando in surprise, yet with a hint of glee in his tone. Yukina's gaze snapped up and she narrowed her eyes on the rising demon. "Well, that explains much-I thought I sensed demon energy flowing through you, but it was so well-hidden, I thought it might have been someone else, or just strong spirit energy...but no, you're a _Koorime_, one of the famed Ice Maidens!"

Slowly, Yukina began to back up, cradling Kazuma's body gently in one hand as the other clenched at her chest. She knew what demons and well-informed humans alike thought about Koorime, and more specifically their ability to make tear gems.

"Tell me, Koorime." Shorin/Rando took a step forward as Yukina took a step back, bringing Kazuma a bit closer to her body. "Why did you leave your village? I thought your kind thought themselves above others, merely because of those Hiruseki gems you cry. Did you shed one for this human when you saw him injured; is that why you flew into such a rage, because you want to kill him yourself for making you do that?"

"N-no!" Yukina cried out, horrified at the thought. "I...I'd never..."

"But Hiruseki are so precious," he nearly purred. "Why else would you want a human back so badly? Oh, or perhaps you want to eat him, I once heard Koorime enjoy the taste of human flesh..."

The thought made Yukina ill, and her skin paled even more than usual. She was reminded of demons she'd met in the past, those who tried to eat her friends and even _Kazuma_ at some points. "No! That's not-not true!"

Shorin/Rando moved to say more, but before he could, Yusuke was suddenly standing in front of Yukina and the small Kazuma protectively. She could sense the anger coming off of him even though he was facing the demon instead.

"Yukina, take Kuwabara and get out of here," he said in a low tone. "This is my fight now."

"Yu...Yusuke..." muttered Yukina, unsure how to react. Yusuke glanced over his shoulder and gave her a strained smile.

"You've done nothing but help us since we arrived. Besides, Kuwabara owes you his life. Wouldn't do to let someone else take it before he could cash in."

Yukina stared for a long moment before giving a slight, sad smile and nodding, still cradling the small Kazuma close as she backed away. She soon found herself standing next to a clearly concerned Botan and a pissed Genkai.

"Yusuke versus Shorin!" Genkai shouted as Yukina carefully knelt on the ground, lying the small body of Kazuma before her as tears once more welled in her eyes. Botan knelt next to her and both examined the unconscious form of the redhead.

"He must have passed out shortly after you retrieved him," Botan softly said, examining the small being closely. "But...how do we get him back to normal size?"

"We beat this jackass until he does it," snarled Yusuke, cracking his knuckles. Shorin/Rando smirked darkly.

"Not to worry, I'll return him to normal," the diminutive demon said before carefully closing his eyes and beginning to chant. No one dared interrupt for fear that something worse would happen, then all too soon the spell took effect, bringing Kazuma back to his normal size-but there was definitely something wrong.

Again, Yukina teared up, this time upon seeing Kazuma's twisted form.

"His ribcage looks horrible," Botan said, a hand to her mouth as if to hold back bile. "And his arm...it looks...twisted."

"Oh, Kazuma," Yukina whispered, reaching out and gently touching his cheek. She had seen the Kazuma she had been married to in worse states, but he had been older, more experienced...to see this Kazuma she now lived alongside, this young one who had just awoken his power, this teenage boy pulled into a world he was not supposed to be in...

"That's it," Yusuke hissed, glaring at Shorin/Rando with even more hatred than before (if it were possible). "You're going _down_!"

"Your power level is rising," Shorin/Rando noted with twisted amusement. "Well, then, at least this will be interesting."

"If you're done," snapped Genkai, clearly on-edge to start out with, "the final battle will begin. Now!"

"We need to heal him," Botan said, voice shaking slightly, "if...if we can."

"I can," Yukina said with quiet determination. "I will. Kazuma needs me...I...I have to do it."

Botan remained silent, merely watching as Yukina took a deep, steadying breath, then began to carefully heal his ribs with a gentle flow of energy. They were twisted, indeed, cracked in some places; a few more minutes and he could have had his ribs cave in completely and worse. As it was, it took Yukina minutely healing each crack, then making sure the stretched muscles were healed before she could even think about moving on.

By that point Rando was revealing himself, rising out of the ground in his true form. Yukina ignored him even as Botan moved to Genkai's side, too busy trying to heal Kazuma as much as she could. The damage was even worse than it looked; he had a few bruised organs, including his kidneys, which could be damning.

But midway through healing his kidneys, Kazuma suddenly moved, startling Yukina badly enough to gasp. He didn't do more than mumble, however, "Are you...ready to fight yet, Ura-meshi? 'Cause...I'll be ready...soon as you are...he hurt..."

Then he fell silent, earning blinks from all three females in the area.

"Even when losing consciousness, that boy has a one-track mind," Genkai dryly observed.

"He always has, when it matters to him," Yukina quietly agreed. Botan gave her an odd look, but didn't comment even as Genkai snorted and turned back to the fight, wherein Yusuke was repeatedly punching Rando to no effect.

Yukina went back to her healing without another word, listening as Rando mocked Yusuke and decided which attack he would use next. Apparently some sort of binding attack, judging by the name and what she could sense.

"...Yukina..." Kazuma said without warning, hurt echoing through his voice. The Ice Maiden paused only a moment before continuing her treatment, moving on to his arm with its cracked bone and torn muscles.

Yusuke's cries of pain hit Yukina hard as she healed, but she was unable to pull away from her patient/friend/not-husband until Botan begged Genkai to stop the fight. As she moved, Yukina knew what the verbal answer would be, as well as the one hidden within Genkai's mind.

"I won't," the old master said wearily. "Whoever wins this fight is the one I shall teach; it would be wrong to interfere with the selection." She sighed quietly. "I'm getting old, now; my powers have to be carried forward, even if they have to stay in the hands of a demon for a short while."

Startled, Yukina glanced towards Genkai from her spot on Kazuma's other side (which allowed her a better view of the fight). The word choice didn't escape her; the hands of a demon, she had said, not the wicked, not the dangerous, just a demon. Did that mean Genkai was honestly thinking Yukina deserved to know such a technique, if worse came to worse? Or was she just reading too much into it?

Yusuke was being dragged to the mud-lake by this point, Yukina noted even as she began to heal Kazuma's more superficial wounds, and soon was tied upside-down to a branch overhanging the lake.

"So how are you feeling now?" Rando taunted with a dark laugh. Yusuke glared hard at the redheaded demon.

"Why the hell do you keep asking?" the Spirit Detective demanded to know. "I'm hanging upsi'-down in a tree staring at your ugly face, you bastard; how the hell do you think!"

Yukina couldn't help the small smile that resulted from Yusuke's normal, brash tactic of insulting his opponent. The sarcasm was a nice touch.

Rando seemed to smirk, but otherwise didn't respond, already chanting again; Yukina flinched and found herself preparing her ice powers already to protect those before her. She would _not_ allow a non-fighter to even _think_ about the chances of being hit if she were there.

The water began churning then, and Yukina could sense the Makai Fish-or Hate Fish, as Rando proceeded to call them-being summoned. She relaxed only a fraction (Makai Fish were not violent unless they were hungry), then almost instantly tensed again at Rando's show of just _how_ hungry his new summons were.

"As you can see, they're rather feisty; I'm willing to bet that was the first meal they've had in quite a while," Rando said in a near-purr. "And that demon was able to fight back! Imagine what will happen if someone unable to defend himself falls in...but enough about that." Rando's smirk returned wider than before. "I want to try out this new technique I just learned...the Spirit Gun."

Yusuke looked like he had been slapped in the face and Botan's eyes went wide, but Genkai and Yukina were less than impressed. Both had, in their own ways, seen much enhanced versions of that technique, and to think Rando merely realized the ability to concentrate and fire energy as a projectile...well, he had probably had the power before and was now merely molding it into a form that could intimidate Yusuke.

A warning/test shot just past Yusuke's face later (creating one of those infamous facial cuts Yukina was so familiar with), Rando gave a dark laugh.

"That look...clearly, you have surrendered to your fear!" he cried in delight. "My favorite part of the kill.

"Increased power is surely wonderful," he went on, pointing his finger in Yusuke's direction again, "but it's the sight of the prey's fear that makes me hunt. You've shown me that fear...and now you may die."

Then a blast of youki later, Yusuke was falling, a sharp cry of surprise escaping him as he fell head-first towards the Makai Fish below. Yukina and Botan both tensed visibly, eyes going wide in horror, but the Ice Maiden was distracted from that horror when she sensed Kazuma's very spirit..._move_.

"Kazuma...?" Yukina began to say before sharply cutting herself off, watching silently as Kazuma's soul slowly began to slip out of his mouth. Yet Yukina had seen death many times, and this was not the same way a soul left a body during death; this was more of a willing separation...and as Yusuke hit the water and Kazuma's spirit shot off after him, she was able to see why it was willing at all.

The rest of the battle spiraled from there thanks to Yusuke's intuition and dumb luck working against Rando's arrogance and...well, arrogance. Soon Rando's chant backfired and, due to the force of gravity working against him, was knocked unconscious and able to be sent to Spirit World jail.

"How's Kuwabara doing?" asked Yusuke when the group had calmed down, locking eyes with Yukina from his spot now sitting next to Kazuma's body. The Koorime quickly adverted her gaze.

"He'll recover," she quietly told the Spirit Detective. "Physically, at least. And I sense no major struggle from his energy, so it should recover fully soon enough."

"What about you?"

Visibly jolting, Yukina turned wide eyes on Yusuke. "I'm sorry?"

"How are you doing?" Yusuke repeated, leaning back on his arms with a wince. "Don't play stupid, either; it was obvious how upset you were earlier."

"I think you play stupid enough for everyone here, Dimwit," Genkai said with a scowl. Yusuke glared, but otherwise didn't react as Yukina let out a soft giggle. She gave a soft smile when the others' attentions were back on her.

"Thank you for caring, Yusuke," she kindly said (and would have bowed, but she was still on her knees next to Kazuma). "But I'm fine. Simply...worried."

"About Kuwabara?" snorted Yusuke with a roll of his eyes. "Don't be, he'll be fine. He's gotten into worse shit than this."

Yukina silently agreed, thinking more of the future than the past, but otherwise didn't respond.

"I'm going to take Rando back now," Botan announced, holding the moaning but mostly-unconscious demon in her hand. "Koenma should have his cell ready in Spirit World Jail."

"You should take Kuwabara, too," said Genkai, glancing at the unconscious teen still lying in tattered clothes before she and Yukina.

"Hey, I thought he was going to be fine!" Yusuke shouted. Genkai rolled her eyes.

"Not to Spirit World, Dimwit, to his _house_. He'll be fine, like Yukina already said, but since you can't take him..."

Yusuke visibly relaxed and gave a brief grin. "Right, I need to rest up for my prize!" Genkai began to nod in approval, but abruptly stopped when Yusuke shouted the end of his sentence, pumping a fist in the air. "First-row tickets to Tokyo Dome!"

"What? You still remember?" Botan asked with a blink of surprise. Yukina tried to stifle her giggle, but Genkai apparently noticed, sighing loudly herself and rolling her eyes.

"I can take Kazuma home," Yukina quietly told Genkai as the battle of words began. Genkai didn't question how, or why; she merely nodded, focused on the conversation/shouting match before her, then jumping in.

As Yukina carefully lifted her once-husband in her arms, revealing strength her small form should not have, she giggled again as Yusuke received horrible news.

The sound of him falling to the ground in a faint, then Botan laughing at his distress followed the Koorime as she left the area into the forest, finally feeling confident enough to ready herself for the next chapter in her new life.


End file.
